Still actually disappointed despite Vettels penalty because we are in a poor position to capitalise being 6th on the grid. I just hope for a clean first lap, and any points will do. Again a pretty sad position to be in.

Maybe Alonso had an off day, and yes, every driver has an off day so don't bite my head off . It's just when Alonso has an off day he still out qualifies Massa.

But let's say he was on it and went 3 tenths faster, it wouldn't matter one single bit, no position changes and still miles behind the fron row. So when they say they got the maximum out of the car and hit the 'performance wall', I believe them!

It has been the same all season after all... A good race to the podium to look forward to anyway!

Still actually disappointed despite Vettels penalty because we are in a poor position to capitalise being 6th on the grid. I just hope for a clean first lap, and any points will do. Again a pretty sad position to be in.

Things look so much better than they did a few hours ago. It's all about beating Vettel and taking as many points as possible out of his lead. Alonso is in a great position to do that and who knows, maybe Webber with have one of his normal KERS issues

Honestly our car is bulletproof (knock on wood). Ferrari have done an amazing job in regards to reliability in the past few years while other teams haven't - Red Bull and McLaren. I fully expect them to have more problems tomorrow; I'm hoping this one turns out to be like Valencia. Alonso's just gotta be careful with those around him. This race is winnable.

- Hamilton will fly away Vettel-like, but that's fine
- Maldonado will likely overtake Webber, who's on the dirty side and does usually make crappy starts
- Fernando might not start that well, but will use his usual combativity to overtake at least one car on the first lap (this could be Jenson, who's struggling here)

- Webber might be not that far away and could struggle on the straights, but he will push to be out of the DRS zone from Kimi & Fer, using the slower part of the circuit
- Fernando will be very close to Kimi
- Vettel will already have a ~15s gap to Hamilton on the line

The most likely scenario would be:.........Can't do better than that, sorry, but I tried to be neutral about this.

neutral? seriously? I cannot see a way of alonso passing Raikkonen or Webber... button and maldonado are more vulnerable. I think even a p4 behind Ham, Web, Rai would be tough. One-stop strategy and the nature of this track leave a small margin of overtaking. Unless something big happens in the first corner, which is the point where the maldonado factor comes in place...

You seem to forget two things: the pace of the Ferrari on long runs looks excellent

That's for Massa, Fernando couldn't do long runs and we don't know how the new updates will affect his long run but the medium worked good in qualy. We will see, this race is quite scary in every aspect despite Vettel starting position.

Fortunately there isn't really a clean/dirty side at Yas. I say this because the racing line out of the final corner has the drivers draw a long diagonal from the exit of the final turn all the way to the braking point of the first corner. So really, the "clean side" isn't the same as other circuits where it is directly on the racing line.

The pole position is odd on the right, the run to the 1st corner is quite short and 2nd has the inside line. If 2nd even has a slightly better start it all but guarantees taking the lead at the start.

we need a good start and couple of DNF's from front-runners for a podium finish...Ferrari is at it's weakest since the second half started and Vettel starting from pit-lane is the only positive thing happened to us for the whole week-end till now..

F2012 have similar characteristics to F150th , fast in high speed corners and slow in twisty street circuit with 90 degrees corners also better in race, worse in Q and so on..... Last year Alonso was 0,6 behind (Vettel and Hamilton Q2 time) in Q with 5th fastest time, yet in the race he was very fast and finished 2nd not so far behind Lewis and well ahead of the rest. Alonso definitely have a shot for 2nd today ,I'am looking forward for repeat of India.

I'm just hoping for clean first corner, even if he is still P6 after it I think he can salvage some good points, Ferrari looked fast on Friday. Then Ferrari must win at least one of the following two races and hope for the best.

I'll be happy if he finishes in front of Vettel and in the points. Finishing the first lap will be the most important thing, I don't think he should take risks to make up places right away; I'm pretty confident the opportunities to make up places will come to him.

I'm sure Fernando is worried about the start & is trying to figure out the best thing to do. He could make up a few places & I think he should try & get as far up front as possible on the first lap. Laying back/ trying to keep roughly the same position could be a disaster with all the guys in the back rushing up as usual. Will be a tricky start, the trickiest of the year. This is a huge opportunity they have to take advantage of, so long as he's not taken out on the first lap.

If Fernando can reach Mark he will easily pass him if they get into the DRS zone. I think the same basically goes for Kimi. Forza Fernando! Forza Ferrari! Forza Felipe!

Fernando's a sensible guy, he knows he can't take too many risks this weekend. A P4 finish will suffice, all we need is to close the gap to Vettel and it will give us a chance to fight back in Brazil. Forza Ferrari! Forza Fernando!

I'd be happy if at least we reduced 5 points from the gap. I can see Vettel finishing 5th so we need Fernando to finish in the podium. In Austin and Brasil anything can happen because of the weather(rain).

Man, I'm feeling really tense about this race. It feels like a proper end of a championship. Good luck !

That SC helped VET a lot, he has a chance to finish P5 maybe. ALO so far does not seem fast enough to pass MAL, will come down to tyres at the end of the stint. But overall I am happy so far with P4 and having survived the start.

That SC helped VET a lot, he has a chance to finish P5 maybe. ALO so far does not seem fast enough to pass MAL, will come down to tyres at the end of the stint. But overall I am happy so far with P4 and having survived the start.

Yeah the SC helped a lot, but the FW damage hurt & he lost all the gained places. However he will finish in the points. So any amount we can cut the lead is very good. Looking ahead, need more updates and ones that work. But I do think the F2012, if in Austin or Brazil right now would be more competitive than it is right now.